The whole nation is talking about it – even Katie Couric. Organization Reboot, based on Jewish values and traditions, are always on the lookout for creative ways to tap into universal, spiritual practices. Tonight, they are asking all of us – Jews and non-Jews – to unplug as they launch “Sabbath Manifesto.”
Believe it or not, this 25-hour custom of turning off your phones and laptops each week existed way before electricity was even discovered. “And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.” (Genesis 2:2). Some may not feel that checking emails and voicemails are work, but for most of us, that is our work.
The point, according…

Most of us have heard of Elie Wiesel, but not many know there is a female version. Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis is a holocaust survivor from Bergen Belson who spends her days reinvigorating faith unto others. This tiny woman has a soul the size of the universe, and who looks as stunning as ever in her age, walks dozens of flights of stairs on Shabbat if need be (can’t use elevators on Shabbat) and travels the world to teach Torah.
If you never heard Rebbetzin Jungreis, you can see her live in NYC as she teaches classes almost every night of the week at Hineni. Her videos about Judaism, spirituality and life can be found at SinaiLive.com. And her books are humbling, to say the least.
I had the priviledge of meeting with Rebbetzin…

I’ve seen this time and time again. A Catholic boy, a Jewish girl, and instant attraction. I don’t know what it is, really. Maybe it’s the forbidden fruit? Opposites attract? Or maybe it’s something we just can’t put our finger on. And I’m no stranger to this either. For a long time, I only dated Catholic guys. And when I visited Italy – forget it! I’d be just fine living in a villa with a Catholic husband and my Jewish beliefs.
Just the other day I was watching the reality TV show Millionaire Matchmaker where the client came in and said he felt very strongly about his beliefs, and wanted only someone who had just as deep a connection to Jesus Christ as he did. Well, lo and behold, a Jewish girl walks in and that…

I’ve heard in the past about some fanatic church-goers who show up to funerals, to communities of gays, blacks and Jews, and protest their existence. I’ve ignored this news as ignorance, almost laughable. Recently, these same folk showed up outside a Jewish music festival to protest, what else, Jews. Is it just me, or is this ultra bizarre? What kind of faith teaches their members to be racist, full of hate and narrow-minded? And then to go out of their way and march it out? Is this a kind of faith anyone should belong to?
If you don’t believe yet how outrageous this group is, visit their home site, Domain Name: http://www.godhatesfags.com. I cannot make this stuff up.
And here is a photo of a Westboro…

So I hear it’s lent time. My best friend gave up chocolate (I could never!). I was thinking about the idea of food in Judaism and how it plays such a huge role — especially around laws of kosher and holidays. More recently in the Jewish tradition, a popular movement to become vegan has developed.
Blogs such as The Jew and the Carrot and heeb ‘n’ vegan have formed a loyal following, and many Jews request vegan as opposed to kosher restaurants (because vegan eating actually is kosher). Plus, one of my interviews at The Jew Spot Chloe Jo Berman runs an incredible site about vegan living called Girlie Girl Army.
To be honest, despite all this excitement, I never jumped on board. I did the vegetarian…

When I was in middle school hanging out by the local shopping plaza, I saw these two kids (a year younger than I) riding their bikes around. Don’t ask me why, but I had this sudden urge to talk to one of them. Just that one. But I had nothing to say. He was younger, I never seen him before, and he was with his friend I was with mine. So I just kept walking, and looking back every now and then as if making sure he’s still there; Okay.
A few minutes later this kid got hit by a car crossing the highway by the shopping plaza. People started running to his side, cars stopped, and at that point I was the furthest one away. My friend and I went over and saw a helmet on one side, a smashed bike on a completely different side.
Why did I have this…

Did you read Sunday’s Modern Love column this week in the New York Times Style section?
A woman on a yearlong voyage studying the Prophet Jesus in Islam rendezvous with a French novice monk. They feel an immediate connection to one another, but can they fall in love? Author Stephanie Saldana writes a great piece on this experience titled “Signs, Wonders and Fates Fulfilled.”
I’d love to hear what you think about this column. If you have stories about yourself or a friend who turned back from becoming a nun, priest or monk for a different kind of love, a romantic love, I’d love to hear! I’m sure the rest of us would too.…

Can anyone here reading this post fathom the idea of turning off their phones, laptops, and putting away the car keys for one night and one full day every single week for the rest of their lives? This 25-hour cleansing period sounds like some sort of reality show experiment, and I wasn’t willing to sign up to try it out. But I was looking for a way to meditate and self-reflect in Judaism, and there it was — Shabbat. Just that, a 25-hour resting, meditative period. I loved it.
Shabbat, for those who never experienced it, is not something that is purely a Jewish concept. It is in biblical text that G-d created for six days, and on the seventh He rested. The Jewish religion took this idea very literally, and every…

As much as I’d love to be eloquent when it comes to speaking Torah, it’s difficult when one, such as myself, slacks reading the holy text, going to Torah classes or synagogue. But, with my love of email and all, I get my dose of inspiration through the newsletters of my favorite rabbis. One of these is Rabbi David Wolpe who recently wrote a post about just this, yearning to learn:
Knowing where to find information is not the same as possessing it. Each fact we learn is arranged in the matrix of all we already know. One who knows how to Google “Shakespeare sonnets” cannot be compared to the one who has memorized Shakespeare’s sonnets. The latter carries the words with
him. The former is an…

Two Fridays ago, I packed my bag with some of my cutest sundresses and SPF 15, and set flight for the Virgin Islands. Little did I know I’d experience one of the holiest places I’ve ever been to. This place I now call Heaven on Earth never drops below 72 degrees, even in the middle of the night. The sun is always shining, and people are always smiling. You can even swim among the sea turtles in the middle of their waters, and see more star than sky at night. I was blessed to have been there.
Nothing makes me happier than seeing people who know they live in G-d’s creations. “This is yours,” said one taxi driver. It is, isn’t it? Almost every few roads we passed had a church, or fences with graffiti saying “G-d makes…

I’m getting ready to set sail for the Islands in a few days, and I couldn’t help but ask myself the question: If I were stranded, what three things would I want with me?
To my surprise, the answer was not so difficult – a Trader Joe’s food market, a Barnes & Noble bookstore (with a Starbucks, of course) and a really rad, super adventurous guy to share my time with. That, to me, was more like an ideal life situation than a survival hypothetical. I thought it was too easy. So I tried to think harder but the answer didn’t change. What I didn’t ask for, even after reevaluating, was a Bible or a synagogue. How come?
If you were on an island, all by yourself, what three things would you want with you? Would you ask for…

Tonight is Shabbat, and I’ve been thinking about how to prepare. I’m not making a big fancy dinner, or going to synagogue. But I want to do something to feel that I am part of this tradition dating back to Genesis.
Every Friday night, Jewish women who observe the Sabbath light two white candles and say a prayer. In Hebrew, they pray to G-d for their family, their house guests, for Shabbat and are given time to silently add anything else on their minds. I remember the first time I tried it on my own. I tried really hard to remember the Hebrew by heart, but couldn’t, so I read it instead. I prayed for a non-Jewish friend who was going through a hard time. Then I stopped and said Amen. The coolest part about it was that it wasn’t…

I watched the movie Nine… the other day, starring some of my all-time favorite actors and actresses Kate Hudson, Marion Cottilard, Sophia Loren and of course Daniel Day-Lewis. Daniel plays Guido Contini, this seductionist movie maker who somewhere between creating movies and living the life of fame gets lost between reality and cinema (based on the true story of). I thought the film was highly intense, emotional, and displayed an interesting struggle of religion’s role on one’s humanity.
After the scenes of the mistresses, the women half naked dancing on stage and the poor wife who watches it all happen, a flashback of Guido’s childhood getting slashes from a priest for watching a woman do a striptease

Growing up, I used to talk to G-d all the time. I had these long conversations with Him at night. Looking back it was probably only-child syndrome. I needed someone to tell all my ups and downs to, all my wishes, all my thanks.
One time when I was 11 years old I asked G-d for curly hair. I saw this blonde girl on TV with the coolest curls ever and I kneeled by my bedside like they do on TV and prayed, and prayed. Lo and behold puberty struck, and I was gifted with the frizziest, most unruly set of curly hair. Even my long-time hairstylist since I was six did not know what to do with it. Thanks G-d. I never doubted His existence since.
Sometimes it feels G-d actually does listen. Sometimes it does not. Lately, it’s been harder to communicate…

This past Saturday there was a blizzard here on the East Coast. I wouldn’t have minded really. I would have sat around in my pajamas and drank myself into a hot chocolate coma. Only this Saturday was special. I was organizing a concert expecting 300 to arrive, only to find out the two headlining bands canceled and people were too scared to drive in.
I probably should have panicked, and cried. I almost did. But luckily I stayed calm, after a few choice words to the one band’s manager for canceling an hour before the show.
The truth is though, despite everything out of my control going wrong, it was out of my control. We can plan with one another, but we can’t plan with G-d. In Kaballah, we believe that “This too is for…

In celebration of my blog The Jew Spot‘s Two Year Anniversary, along with my best friend Annie’s YouSingIWrite.com, we are throwing an amazing charity concert in New York City this Saturday night, December 19th, to raise money and awareness for To Write Love On Her Arms (www.TWLOHA.com).
TWLOHA is all about helping young people who have lost hope and are on the verge of suicide or coping with depression. The organization has made great waves and have been highly publicized for their amazing work. We’re here to acknowledge this organization for doing what all of us spiritual people do, which is celebrate life and help others in finding meaning and purpose too.
The concert will feature four amazing bands…

So Chanukah, the festival of lights, started this past Friday night! Yay. Chanukah is one of my favorite holidays because it requires the least amount of thinking. Each night you light a candle, eat a potato pancake, receive a gift and go to bed. Somewhere in between you count your blessings and the miracles in your life. Overall, it’s a non-threatening eight nights.
This year I started off the holiday a little differently. Perhaps it’s because of my blog and new association with the Jewish world that I was invited to some of the more interesting holiday parties. Such as the one I attended Saturday night called Menorah Horah — a burlesque performance with Jewish women dancing with dreidels and menorahs.…

'New Jew' Patrick Aleph is reclaiming righteousness by creating his own Jewish genre

Patrick Aleph, lead singer of punk band Can Can, has started an oh-so-needed movement in the Jewish community called Punk Torah . Punk Torah is not necessarily about music, Patrick explains, but it is about rebelling — rebuilding and reapproaching the way Judaism is being done. “If I punk the Torah, it’s not that I’m punking a holy book. It’s that I’m punking a certain way of looking at the book which is inflexible and what drives people away from it,” he said.
Patrick considers himself an observant Jew, but also lives what he believes to be a very progressive life. He gets asked often how he balances being in a punk band with Judaism. His says he doesn’t have to because…

Today I discovered Tony Robbins on Twitter. Tony is a motivational coach who tours around the world shaking people up with his universal truths. You can watch his video here. I was struck by his quote “Let others lead small lives, not you. Let others argue over small things, not you. Let others cry over small hurts, not you…” I guess it came to me at a time I needed to read it, but now I’m kind of obsessed with the guy. He’s becoming my personal rabbi — though not Jewish at all, I don‘t think.
I like Tony because he inspires people in the place they need inspiration. He helps people build physical strength, emotional stamina, spiritual fulfillment and find the relationship or career they desire. He gets…

In May, I wrote a piece about a new website called Shaindy.com. You may remember reading the article “Unkosher Sex” here on Busted Halo. The article and the interview with the founder got a lot of attention, and a lot of response. But more than love or hate mail, I got a lot of “Well, what do you think?” mail.
For those who are unfamiliar, Shaindy is a website created by an ultra-religious Jewish man which ultimately fosters extramarital affairs. This website is tailored to the religious Jewish community, who not only seek affairs, but are involved in forums which speak of the benefit of having extramarital relations plus a section to upload pornography which can only be viewed as a member. Luckily, I was given…